The present disclosure relates to a cooling device for sending air to cool an object to be cooled, and an image forming apparatus including the cooling device.
An image forming apparatus which forms an image on a sheet member, such as a copy machine and a printer, is known. Within such a type of image forming apparatus, various members that become heat sources are provided. Examples of such members include a heating device for melting toner, and a motor for driving a roller or the like. Due to these heat sources, the temperature within the image forming apparatus increases. The increase in the temperature within the image forming apparatus causes, for example, a decrease in the flowability of a developer such as toner, a decrease in an electric charge amount of the developer, or a variation in a sheet conveyance speed due to expansion of a roller, resulting in an image defect. Thus, hitherto, in the image forming apparatus, a cooling device for sending air to the interior of the image forming apparatus to cool the interior is provided. The conventional cooling device includes an air duct for passing air blown from an air blower, and the air is sent from the air duct toward an object to be cooled, thereby cooling the object.